Am I a crazy dry fly guy or what??

P

pafisherman

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Joined
Nov 13, 2006
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194
I never really considered my self a dry fly purist at all....but just maybe I have gotten that disease and have no way of turning back. I decided Sunday that with the sun shinning and temps reaching the 40's I would sneak out for a few hours around noon for a little fishing. Hitting the creek around 11:00 am I noticed a few midges were in the air. With a slight breeze, sun shinning and midges in the air I quickly decided maybe just maybe I could find a rising fish and grabbed my little Mike Brooks McKensie Midge Bamboo 3wt. Off to the flat water slowly walking up the bank and there it is.. a couple of slight rings on the calm clear water. I walked around and far above the dimples I saw on the surface and slipped into the water. The water felt a bit cold and the breeze was lite but sure felt cool. The water was cold and clear and I had to work slowly to avoid as much disturbance as possible. Slowly working myself into place I added about 3Ft of 7X to my furled leader and sscured a size 24 CDC midge to my line. I waited for what seemed like forever till I saw a slight dimple on the surface. A dozen casts latter and nothing. Another dimple more casts nothing. The water feels cold as I am waist deep and my feet are getting numb. I dry my fly dust it up and wait some more. Then another dimple on the surface... a nice cast above the dimple with a slow drift towards the spot and there it is a lite sip and my fly disappears, a lift of my rod and I am hooked up to the fish. She pulls hard and runs off some line. A minute or so latter I net a beautifull 16 - 17" fat rainbow. I was surprised as I dont catch many rainbows on drys. That warmed me up a bit but 30 mins or so and a few casts latter I decided to call it a day. 1 strike 1 fish and I considered it a great Nov. day on the water. I am pretty sure I could have caught more fish bouncing nymphs on the bottom but when I saw a few slight rises I could not resist fishing dry flies. What do you all think I am afraid I have Dry Fly Disease and there is no way back...
Bill A
 
I caught that affliction 30 years ago. It's really not so bad.
I've even infected most of the guys that fish with me with that bug, and they all seem glad to have it.
Don't worry - be happy!
 
Hi Bill A

No one likes to dryfly fish more then I do, I did fish streamers now and then. The last few times I been out, I been fishing nymphs, even catching a few fish. From what I know about you, from our talks, your a good all around fisherman, so just enjoy yourself and have a good time!

PaulG
 
I am like you PaFisherman, Friday Heritage and I went to a Pocono stream to do a little fishing. As most of the board member know, I am a newbie that prefers dry's. Well within my first 5 casts I caught my first trout on a PT that I tied, but of course when I picked him up to take a picture he flopped out of my hand and swam away, o well. I did set aside the fly to put in a shadow box. I hooked 1 more and decided to walk upstream to see how H-A was doing. We both proceeded to fish upstream until we came to a very nice hole. Fished it awhile and then...Splash! A trout rising to a caddis. I quickly threw on a caddis with a midge dropper and tried for a good 30 minutes to catch that damn fish, with no avail. If I see a rise, I quickly change over. lol So I guess I am a crazy fly guy as well.
 
Fishing downstream with midges? That's something new.
 
I have used downstream reach casts and other slack casts with midges a bunch of times, particularly in very slow pools.
 
same here....usually i have too much slack out and im late on the hookset but sometimes i stick em'
 
Enjoyable story.
 
Great story - thanks. I'm new to the site, but have been flyfishing for years. I typically fish nymphs unless I'm seeing surface activity. I was just commenting to a friend that this has been an odd year (for me) for dry fly fishing. While I've seen a ton of insects over the water; BWO, caddis, hendricksons, etc., I've not seen many rises at all. I know a lot of guys that will throw drys whether they see rises or not, I tend to just keep fishing nymphs. It was a dry year for dry flies for me.
 
Dryflies are truly a joy to fish. Long delicate casts, concentrated anticipation, and the sheer thrill when swirling bubbles replace your fly. I love it. During trout season i almost exclusively fish dries, not out of snobbery but because to me its such a gratifying feeling. Have fun with it and dont think you only have to cast to rising fish.

Troutbumm, welcome aboard!
 
When I think about it my interest in dry flies started many many years ago. As a kid when I was probably 8 or nine 45 yrs ago. I started fishing for Bluegills by dragging a Gaines Popper or rubber spider behind a bobber on a spinning rod (Mitchell 300 of course). How many of you remember those? When I was 10 or 12 I bought my first fiberglass South Bend Fly Rod outfit to fish for Bass & Panfish. I guess I was destined to become a dry fly fisherman.
Bill A
 
I have the disease , i'm not proud of it and i fall off the wagon at times but i get back on. My latest falling off has been beadheads , thanks to jayL at the jam. troutbumm...........that is a downright beautiful classic wet fly , what is the pattern? did you tie that? My Pap used to fish a brace of those and he tied them better than i do , fished them better than i do too.
 
Welcome Troutbumm.Taking fish on the surface with dry flies is addictive for sure.Even better when you tye the files yourself.
IMO any surface strike will get your blood going.
 
osprey wrote:
troutbumm...........that is a downright beautiful classic wet fly , what is the pattern? did you tie that? My Pap used to fish a brace of those and he tied them better than i do , fished them better than i do too.
Click to expand...

Osprey i inherited a box of classic patterns from an elderly couple in potter county. The woman said they were her father's. I have about 60 in total and some arent even out of their wax paper bags i assume they were put in ny the flyshop owner awhile back. They are an interesting piece of history
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the welcome. I love fly fishing and while I do tie my own flies, this is not an image of one I tied. I saw it, I liked it, I used it:) I too really enjoy dry fly fishing and often, if nothing is happening, I'll tie on a dry, whether I see rises or not. This year, I just wasn't seeing rising fish, but wasn't having much down time either. Nymphin was very, very, good to me this year. Again, thanks for the kind welcome.
 
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